Objects

Erna Rosenstein, 1985

Gierałtowski, Krzysztof (1938- )

I will not close you in words.

I will not keep it on canvas

as Erna Rosenstein (1913–2004), a painter and poet, wrote in the poem Co robić? (What to do?). The sources of her work were sought in surrealism, but the artist did not like pigeonholing. She said: "There is one art. There must be a sense of poetry and some melody in it. There are no separate types of art" (Robert Walenciak, Pudełko też chce być ważne (The Box Also Wants To Be Important), Wysokie Obcasy 2008, No. 2, p. 19).

Erna Rosenstein studied in Vienna and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków (from 1934). At the Kraków Academy, she met artists from the avant-garde, leftist Kraków Group (the so-called first). After World War II, in which she lost almost her entire family, from which she miraculously survived (she witnessed the murder of her parents), she became an important figure in the artistic life in Poland. She took part in the 1st Exhibition of Modern Art in Kraków in 1948. During the period of socialist realism, she did not exhibit.

In 1985, Krzysztof Gierałtowski portrayed Erna Rosenstein in her apartment in Mokotów, Warsaw. As he said, just before pressing the shutter button, the artist deliberately concealed one of her ``things``.

Renata Piątkowska

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Information about the object
Author / creator
Gierałtowski, Krzysztof (1938- )
Object type
photography
Time of creation / dating
21st century
Place of creation
Warszawa (mazovian province)
Technique
black-and-white photograph
Material
photographic print paper
Keywords
Copyright status
contact the Museum
Owner
POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews
Identification number
MPOLIN-M735
Localization
The object is not currently on display